


Coffee Shop Negotiations

by twtd



Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: F/F, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-05-31
Updated: 2011-05-31
Packaged: 2017-10-19 23:36:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,403
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/206440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/twtd/pseuds/twtd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place after Supply and Demand (6.24). Garcia and Agent Swan have coffee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee Shop Negotiations

**Author's Note:**

> I asked where the fic about Garcia and Andi was, so of course I had to write it. That's just the way fic goes, right? For the sake of this story, Garcia and Kevin are just friends.

"So," Garcia wrapped her hands around her coffee mug, more for security than for warmth. It was already pushing into the high 90s despite the fact that it was only May. 98 should have been at least a month and a half away. Well, that was global warming for you. "What did you want to talk about?"

Andi Swan made her nervous and it was very hard for her not to ramble when she was nervous, but she was making an effort. Now, Agent Swan just needed to answer her before she said something incredibly stupid, or geeky, or both. The faint smile on Andi's face wasn't helping with the nervousness.

"I want you to come work for me." Andi let the sides of her mouth twitch up just a little more.

Garcia inhaled half of her sip of coffee and started coughing. "Excuse me?" Her eyes were wide with disbelief or lack of oxygen. One of the two. It wasn't really clear. She coughed again to clear her throat and took a deep breath. Andi didn't seem to be in any hurry. "You want me to... Oh, wow, I'm... yeah, I'm... wow." Garcia made herself stop but she still felt flustered.

"So, is that a yes? Or a 'you'll think about it?'" Andi cocked her head to the side and Garcia really hoped that Andi wasn't as good a profiler as her team.

"You know, I'm incredibly flattered. I mean, incredibly, but I don't like change. In fact, I was just saying to Derek..." She was starting to ramble. It was bad. The corners of Andi's mouth were twitching again. She pulled herself together. "What I mean is, thank you very much for the offer, and I'm flattered that you thought of me, but I'm happy where I am. Very happy. Incredibly happy." She nodded decisively.

"Alright." Andi was full on smiling now. It was making her eyes sparkle and somehow that made her even more intimidating. "Well, you can't blame me for trying." She shrugged and sipped her own coffee. She didn't seem upset. Garcia hoped that it was the truth, but there was a keen look in her eye. "You don't need time to think about it?"

Garcia squirmed. "No. I don't." She smiled back. Smiling was better than cowering. "I love the BAU."

"Fair enough." Andi finished her coffee. She still had that keen look in her eyes though. "I've got to get back. Why don't you let me buy you dinner, to make up for wasting your time?" She was already starting to stand.

Garcia blinked. "Dinner?" She really needed to stop doing that, but everything that Andi said seemed to come out of nowhere.

"Yes, Penelope, dinner. Tomorrow night?" She was looking down at Garcia expectantly.

"Uhm, okay?" She didn't mean for it to sound like a question, but it was too late to do anything about it now. At least she hadn't just echoed her again. That Andi had used her first name only sort of registered.

"Good. I'll call you. And I like the flower." She motioned to Garcia's hair, smiling back at her as she walked out into the afternoon.

***

Garcia was halfway to Emily's number in her phone before she remembered. One day it was going to stop sucker punching her in the stomach, but that day wasn't today. She called Derek instead.

"Hey baby girl, what's up?" He sounded like he was in a good mood. It made the ache in Garcia's throat lessen. She took a deep breath and ignored just how shaky it was.

"Agent Swan just asked me to have dinner with her." If her cell phone had had a cord, she would have been twirling it between her fingers.

"Okay." Derek laughed gently. "You know she's probably just trying to steal you away from us, right?"

"Nooo," Garcia drew it out, not quite ready to get to the rest yet. "No, it's definitely not that. She already tried that. Over coffee." She bit her lip, sucking it into her mouth for a second before she stopped. Despite how she felt, she really wasn't a teenage girl. "I told her that I wasn't steal-able, and she said that was fine, and then she asked me to dinner."

"Well, alright." He was shaking his head at her. It didn't matter that they were on the phone, she could tell. "So I'm guessing you said yes, because I doubt you'd be this wound up if you weren't going to see her again."

"It seemed like the thing to do at the time. Do you think she was asking me out? Like, _out_ out? Because I'm not sure." Garcia forced herself to stop pacing and sit down. She normally wasn't this uncertain, but something about Andi made her question her own instincts.

"Does she really freak you out that much?" Derek wasn't teasing anymore. "Because you're normally pretty good at reading people."

"I'm not freaked out." She was trying to be rational about this. She really was. "She's just... intimidating. She's like Hotch but even more Hotch-y."

"Hotch isn't that bad. You manage to talk to him every day without stressing about it."

"Yeah, but I'm not going on a date with Hotch." She couldn't suppress the slight shudder that went through her at that thought. She loved Hotch, but just, no. She didn't want to even think about that. She was, however, significantly less nervous now. She sighed.

"Feeling better, babe?" She didn't know how he knew, but she was glad that he did.

"Yeah. Damn you and your subtle Earth logic."

"I love you too, baby girl." He was laughing again. "Enjoy your date. 'Cause if she isn't trying to poach you, it's definitely a date."

***

Garcia took one last deep breath before she opened the door to her apartment. She had triple checked that it was Andi first. It was well earned paranoia, but she was smiling as she finally caught sight of the other woman in full and not distorted though the peephole.

"Hi." Andi's dress looked too nice to be something that she would wear chasing down bad guys. From what she could see, Andi had very nice legs.

"Hello." Andi was smiling back at her, more blatantly than she had over coffee. "Ready to go, or...?" Garcia nodded. Andi seems to have dialed back the intensity from a 10 to an 8. It was enough to loosen the knot in her stomach just a bit.

Garcia might have nodded, but she hadn't moved. Andi raised her eyebrows. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah," Garcia smiled, but it was still a nervous smile. "I just.... This is a date, right? I didn't misinterpret or... It's not another attempt to get me to leave the BAU, because now that I'm thinking about it, you seemed to seemed to give up on that pretty quickly." And suddenly she was rambling again after she promised herself that she wasn't going to do that.

She stopped when she felt Andi's hands on hers and heard her name. There was something nice about the way Andi said Penelope.

"Yes?" She looked at Andi expectantly.

"It's a date. And if you had said yes to working for me, then I wouldn't have been able to ask you out, so I'm not too torn up about it, okay?"

Garcia nodded. It was a jerky sort of movement but it was better than just gaping. "Okay."

"Good." Andi hadn't let go of her hands, but Garcia didn't mind. She squeezed back. She could do this. She was Penelope Garcia and potential suitors had to worship at her feet. It had just taken her a little while to remember it. The thought made her smile and gave her a boost of confidence. The knot in her stomach finally disappeared, replaced with a general low hum of anticipation. It was a much more pleasant experience. She finally stepped out of her apartment. This was going to be fun, and if it wasn't, then it was only one date. They were both professional enough to handle that. Excitement was good. Freaking out wasn't and it wasn't her, no matter how intimidating Andi could be. Also, it was pointless. Garcia let go of Andi's hand and was finally able to look at her without feeling like her words were going to run away with her.

"So, where are you taking me?"


End file.
